Painting as a Foreign Language.

Abstract

Painting as a Foreign Language was a group exhibition of twenty-three British artists curated by ProfessorGerard Hemsworth that formed part of the 25th São Paulo Biennial, 2002. The aim of the exhibition was tohighlight the resurgence of painting as a vital practice in the British art environment.

A fully illustrated catalogue published by Editora Cultural Inglesa (ISBN 8588116073) accompanied theexhibition, and included an essay by Suhail Mallik.

Mullaniff contributedThe Storyteller, a large-scale (18 foot) painting comprising seven wood and gesso panels inscribed withpainted and drawn motifs.‘For the form and content of The Storyteller, Mullaniff drew on her archival research into the home as a placeladen with memory and cultural identity, which are reflected in domestic memorabilia and decorativeartefacts. Mullaniff has explored these issues through paintings that encompass the use of printed fabric,photographic imagery and floral illustrations, reconfiguring past design motifs and their cultural connotationsinto a contemporary context. In The Storyteller, Mullaniff repeated and cropped a basic rose motif across thesurface such that the colour appeared to fade where it was absorbed into the gesso surface. The motif wasderived from Mullaniff’s research into the book of prints, Les Roses, by Pierre-Joseph Redoute, a French artistof the late 18th/ early 19th century, complemented by investigations into the patterns used for textiles,Version 3 – updated 20.11.03 7 of 4wallpaper and lace ornamentation dating from 1830 to 1900.’